Sunny day in Nokomis

Wednesday

Jul 2, 2014 at 10:00 AM

By Dave Kane

I was lucky enough to visit Nokomis on Sunday, when the trip included a stop at the Bottomley-Ruffing-Schalk Baseball Museum. It’s a place dedicated to central Illinois’ connection to the major league game.

The B-R-S honors the well-known and obscure.Did you know Lou Sylvester, born in Springfield in 1855, was the Capital City’s first major leaguer?

As for the well-known, I’m always drawn to the memorabilia connected to Nokomis’ own Jim Bottomley, a Hall of Fame first baseman who helped lead the Cardinals to their world championship in 1926.

He was “Sunny Jim” because of his disposition. Always smiling. Always wearing his cap tilted to the left. But they weren’t smiling in Brooklyn on Sept. 16, 1924, when Bottomley went 6-for-6 with a major-league record 12 RBIs.